Conventional asynchronous transfer mode interworking techniques utilize an interface device that identifies traffic for asynchronous transfer mode processing and transfers the traffic to a separate device for processing. Non-asynchronous transfer mode traffic follows a separate and different processing path. Thus, a schism exists in the industry with respect to products that perform asynchronous transfer mode interworking and products that perform conventional wide area network processing. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate this schism when providing an asynchronous transfer mode interworking capability.